Before I begin, I just want to say this certainly was inspired by gameguy's blog on what he thought would be great for Pikmin 3, and even MrGhost's blog on what he wanted in the next Smash Bros. These blogs certainly jogged my thoughts a bit and honestly, I'm always thinking about possibilities in some of my favorite games and franchises. However, I've recently returned to playing F-Zero GX and I couldn't help but start going a bit deeper into what I think would make the ultimate F-Zero for the Wii U.

F-Zero GX is without a doubt the greatest racing game of all time. I know that's a huge statement to make but it's truth to me is clear. I'm a big racing fan and this game did just about everything right. The controls are perfect, with incredibly tight analog stick response combined with sliding and drifting to different degrees with the analog shoulder buttons. There really is no limit to how much control you have with so many different inputs you're given. This is doubly impressive considering every single of the 40 different hover craft control differently, from the tightly turning, to the very loose and drift-y craft (not to mention the hundreds of different vehicles you can create with the editor). While the perfection that was the GameCube controller will be missed, I’m hopeful that the Wii U controller will provide the precision and dexterity necessary to properly handle the game (though the lack of analogue shoulder buttons could be a big issue). Add to these superb controls the best tracks you'll see in gaming. There really is no lack of imagination, and the designers fully used the ability to in any height or direction. If you haven't seen an F-Zero track, you just are missing out. Then when you put all this together with the most robust racing AI I've seen (say goodbye to rubber-banding!), you've got an absolute masterpiece of a single player racing experience.

Truly spectacular race tracks

I want this part to stay exactly the same. Hear me Nintendo? Get the same team that made this (Sega) and make sure their racing engine is exactly the same. Same controls, same AI, same amazing track creator they used. In fact, if it's at all possible, have all of these tracks in the game as an unlock-able bonus. All 25 amazing tracks. Yes, of course, make at least 25 new ones, but GX's tracks were simply so fantastic, I have absolutely no problem playing them yet again (part of the reason I continue to play the game to this day). Keeping all of this intact will ensure that the Grand Prix mode will once again be perfect. Adding something to the controller screen is simply unfeasible during gameplay as it's much too fast paced to look down. I'd relegate it to menu navigation and UI for the most part. When I'm racing this fast, my eyes are going to be glued to the TV.

This is how I'll take my controller while racing

But what about the rest of the game? First, the not so crazy. Multiplayer needs to be online. Duh. However, I really do believe Nintendo needs to do what it can to support 30 people per race. While the standard local multiplayer was fun of course, it just wasn't the same when there were only 4 people. This game is about 30 racers, going at over 600 mph (1000 km/h), all vying for the top place. There's just no replacement for that experience (not to mention the crowding eliminates any chance of the highly controversial “snaking”).

Additionally, the “tickets” idea can come back from GX, but instead of just currency it could be turned into an entire RPG system, similar to what Call of Duty 4 did for shooters. Place better in races for more points. Add in “challenges” to encourage players to experiment while they race for bonus points. I think even a betting mode, where players bet on how well they think they would do, would be a great way to spice it up. A grand prix mode in addition to single races would be awesome as well and would make for some very competitive action. Really, this game is perfect for a competitive environment at the level of Smash Bros. and the more multiplayer options, the better.

That leads into the local modes, where the competition between friends, for fun or serious, can really take place. I'm just going to assume that only one Wii U controller is compatible for now and go from there. Obviously, 4 player split screen is a must for some classic action so classic controller support will have to be there. If the hardware can handle it, I'd also love to see up to 4 player grand prix with all the computers. Just bump down the graphics; I don't really care that much if it lets me hold huge races in my living room. And let me build my own grand prixs, choosing from the many excellent stages.

Imagine a player in control of each of those racers

However, this is mostly stock ideas. Yes, I want creativity within these standard modes, especially with track designs and how the points system works. But other than that, I think this game fits perfectly with mostly standard design. Where I want developers to really take a chance is in the story mode. For those that didn’t play GX, the story mode was more or less a challenge mode with some admittedly well produced cut scenes in between. The missions were also well known for their incredible difficulty, and that’s before you realize there’s a hard mode and a very hard mode after that. The “story” however, was pretty much nonexistent. I want that aspect to change. “A racing game with a deep story? Impossible!” I’m sure you’re thinking that, but hear me out. The F-Zero universe is actually fairly well thought out. Going through the pilot profiles in GX will reveal a concise back-story for every single racer, all of which are intertwined in a general backdrop that’s admittedly fairly shallow. However, there are historic events (the great crash of four years prior to GX for example) and some of the characters already have quite a bit of investment (Captain Falcon of course, Black Shadow, Dr. Stewart, Pico, among a few others). Really, they just need some fleshing out and I think this is the perfect chance.

There are actually quite a few characters and they all have at least some back-story, if not quite a lot.

Obviously, I don’t expect a story to include every racer in the franchise as that would encompass over 50. However, I believe constructing a solid story around the main characters that have been around for awhile or had the largest play in GX is completely possible. Personally, I see something of a detective story most fitting as Captain Falcon is hired to find out the truth behind the big accident. I can already see scenes such as Falcon chasing down suspects, the gangs causing trouble, Black Shadow of course making a mess of things, and plenty of twists. There are so many possibilities going from that vantage point with the huge cast of diverse characters that I think a legitimately compelling story is possible. The biggest hurdle will be the story telling, as Nintendo is well known for resisting cut scenes and even voice acting for financial reasons. However, Sega produced some very high caliber cut scenes in GX, including fairly solid voice acting, even if the story they told was pretty shallow. If Nintendo is willing to pull out all the stops on this big risk, I definitely think it would pay off with not only a great story, but really bringing the F-Zero universe to life.

The cut-scenes in GX were actually very good. Can we have more along with a compelling tale?

Of course, what about the gameplay for this story? I actually think they did quite good in GX. It should be relegated to some nonstandard racing. I don’t want them to waste time building other mechanics like letting you walk around and talk to people. That will just turn out bad. The game is about driving and I think there’s plenty of ways to expand on that, whether it be chasing down a suspected target, escaping from adversaries, speeding through an off road course, or driving out of a collapsing building, there’s plenty of variety as long as they construct the story around such set pieces and make enough of them so it's not just a bunch of long cut-scenes. I'm tempted to want to include at least some interaction in the story telling, such as choosing conversations (especially if it is a more detective-like story) but that may take focus off the racing which needs to be center stage.

I know I’m being quite ambitious here with the story mode. Not only is it not typical of Nintendo to invest that much into story, as they focus much more on text in their story driven franchises, but it’s not your typical universe for a story. It would be difficult, yes. However, if they did pull it off, it would really add to the package I feel, giving players something to really experience, not just excellent racing.

Looking at this, I have some pretty high expectations, and I know if there is an F-Zero game in the works, it probably won't be of this caliber. However, I know Nintendo is fully capable of making this kind of huge, feature rich kind of package and this franchise is just begging for it. They already have an incredible base to build off of. They just need some creativity and ambition. Hopefully Nintendo's claim to bring back the "core" into it's domain will mean they're willing to spend a few more bucks for a compelling game. If it does, I hope they choose F-Zero as one of the first as there is plenty of potential, as I've hopefully convinced you of. Come on, Nintendo, Captain Falcon wants you to really show us your moves!!

So I've narrowed it down to my 50 favorite games. These are simply any games I own or have played thoroughly enough to warrant a comprehensive rating. I was going to just do 25 but there were so many great games that I wanted to at least mention so I extended it to 100, then narrowed it back down to 50. Note that I started gaming near the end of the N64 generation, so you can take this as a 21st century list. Also, most everything is Nintendo, since that's mostly what I play, so you could probably call this an ultimate-21st-century-mainly-Nintendo list. These first games I'm not going to go into too much detail. Just some information of why I thought it was great, as well as what system I played it on. As I get down into my top 20 or so, however, I'll be adding more info, since those are especially special to me. So here we go, with 50 through 41!!

This was my first Metroid game ever, and man, had I been missing out. I was instantly in love with jumping around, blasting aliens to bits, searching for hidden secrets. Of course, as soon as I heard the footsteps of SA-X, I'd freeze in my tracks and look for somewhere to hide. My heart would seriously start pounding whenever I heard the SA-X nearing. While definitely not the best in the series, it was a great introduction to Metroid, despite being last chronologically. It also has the deepest story telling this side of Other M (which I haven't played yet unfortunately). While definitely not perfect nor groundbreaking, this will always hold a special place as the beginning of Metroid for me and I'm still waiting for Metroid Dread or something to continue after this with the Fusion suit.

This one's a tad controversial with basically everyone hating it nowadays. And while I'll admit there's a few things that went wrong with it (commando, one man army, no dedicated servers), really you can't deny the amount of greatness in this title. For Infinity Ward to put this much content in a game in 2 years is amazing, and really, I think we can blame Activision for their horrendous 2 year schedule. The single player in quite possibly the most adrenaline fueled experience you'll ever have in a game. Every single level has some crazy, creative action sequence. And even the story has some great twists. Of course, it's the multi-player that people play for hours, and there is no single game to match the amount of stuff in this multi-player. Just the number of guns and attachments for each is staggering. Not to mention the countless challenges for extra XP. And this is probably the only shooter with only 1 level I dislike. Just because everyone says they hate this game, doesn't mean it's bad at any rate. The more people play a game, the more issues people are going to have with it, and this just happens to be the most played game, possibly of all time.

This is a pretty recent game, but even still, I'm having a blast with it. The amount of customization there is is quite staggering. You can literally make any character you want, nearly any vehicle you want, and any race you want. And the online community is fantastic. You can always find some great creations and great creators. In fact, it's rather ironic considering the top mod daily is Mario on a Sony system. Not to mention the hundreds of Mario Kart levels remade in this game. Not sure how they feel about that. Unfortunately, the racing isn't as solid as I would like, and the items are incredibly uninspired. However, the sheer amount of great content you can create more than makes up for it. If you like racing, and you like creating, this is the perfect game for you.

Another content creation game? Yep, these are quite popular these days, and this is undoubtedly the best. Like MNR, you can literally make anything. However, what puts LBP above it is the way you can take pictures and paste them for custom textures, and more importantly, you can group items together and save them, essentially allowing you to create not only levels made of hundred of items, but even your own items. Just browse some of the levels online and you will quickly see just how amazing this system is. You can literally do anything from the basic tools they give you. Simply genius. However, the platforming itself is just not up to par for me, after years of Mario. Just not as tight or precise as it should be. Luckily, this game is not about hardcore platforming, but more about discovering all the amazing things you can create, so it's not too big a deal. Half the fun is trying to figure out how they did something in a level, and it's amazing just how clever some people are with the system. Definitely the best content creator yet.

This was actually my first Advance Wars games, and man was I sorry to not have played the originals. I had played plenty of Fire Emblem so I knew they formula quite well, but this comical take on war is just irresistible. Leveling up your generals is surprisingly deep, and the whole hook of the game (having two of them) can often determine the outcome of the battle. If you don't know how to use your generals together, you're simply going to get beat. This is strategy at its best. The story isn't incredibly deep, but it's plenty good to keep you hooked to the game and want to play the next level to see what comes next. This was definitely the DS's first must-have game and proved its legitimacy as a system.

After playing Metroid Prime, I wanted to try and experience the beginning of the series, but the original NES game was just way too tough for me. The lack of map and any sense of location, not to mention cruelly tough enemies quickly destroyed my interest. Zero Mission saved the day. Possibly the best remake ever, this game brought the original Metroid to life and up to current standards. The art is simply stunning, and even on the tiny GBA screen, it's hard not to stare in awe. And even after finishing the game, you unlock a new mission that's nearly as long as the original game, but focuses on a completely different style of gameplay. You can't call yourself a Metroid fan and not have played this masterpiece.

While it certainly didn't quite reach the amount of hype that built of before it, Echoes is much better than it gets credit for. While the dark world didn't really end up as great as I had envisioned (just way too purple) it was in no way a bad game. The world is simply massive and incredibly varied and natural. You don't find any video game stereotypes here. The amazing artists at Retro Studios raised the standard once again with this game, creating one of the best looking games of that generation. And the boss fights are nothing short of epic. The new beams are very cool, and the newly implemented abilities, from classics such as the screw attack, to brand new ones such as the multi-missile, all worked incredibly well. And there's an incredibly deep story hidden in all the different logs once you take the time to read them that fully connect this game to the first Prime, as well as the rest of the series. All too often we only see the slight disappointments with this games and not the fantastic title it was overall.

Who new making everyone flat could make a game so intriguing? The first Mario RPG since Mario RPG, this was a nice detour from platforming, and man was it fun. While I usually abhor turn based combat, Paper Mario showed that turn based battles can be fun and interactive. And the writing is absolutely fantastic. The characters really come to life in their dialogue and the light humor always puts a smile on your face. Never was I bored with so many lively characters around me. And your sidekicks provided some very unique abilities for cool puzzles and mild exploration throughout the stylized world. Definitely one of the most charming RPGs ever.

I'm probably going to get a bunch of hate putting this so far down the list, but really, it's just too tough to order these games. As I'm sure most people know, this is cinematic gaming at its best, with Hollywood level cut-scenes, incredible voice acting, some awe inspiring locals, and quite possibly the best console graphics yet. The level design is much improved over the original, and even the gun-play is more varied and fun. And you never stay in the same place, keeping you on your toes, and ensuring that you never get bored. Unfortunately, movement and controls are just too loose and imprecise to place this higher, where I would like to. However, there is no denying the incredible experience you will have journeying through this epic adventure.

Yes, I know the single player quite plainly sucks in this game, but considering how great the multi-player is, who needs the single player? Made as a spiritual sequel to Goldeneye, this is local multi-player shooting at it's best. Just to give you a perspective, no longer did I always go over to my friend's house to play Halo for multi-player fun; he came over to play Time Splitters. There is just no end to the customization and more modes than you could ever want. No, this was not a modern, groundbreaking game. Really, it went back to the days when shooters were fun, rather than serious bouts of skill. Things like Paintball and Big Head mode kept reminding you to just enjoy yourself. Never have I had so much plain fun with a shooter.